


Through The Woods

by Daiako (Achrya)



Series: The Crow Clan [2]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Demons, Chases, M/M, Sexual Content
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-05
Updated: 2018-05-05
Packaged: 2019-05-02 11:20:56
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,035
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14543616
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Achrya/pseuds/Daiako
Summary: Once a year all the demon clans come together for the Chase, where omegas run and hide and alphas hunt them down to prove they are worthy mates. This year Hinata is after Kageyama, and has made it very clear he intends to win. Kageyama isn't sure if he wants to be caught or not, but he knows he won't be making it easy either way.





	Through The Woods

**Author's Note:**

> Same universe as my Tsukkiyama fic 'What Big Teeth'. Short version of things are: Humans and demons live separately, generally only crossing paths to fight and kill each other. Sometimes humans end up turned. A/B/O dynamics exist among humans, but only A/O among demons, so sometimes a beta human will end up an alpha or omega demon, as is the case with Hinata. 
> 
> Kageyama was born into the Castle Clan but has been part of the Crows for a few years.

Not all that Low-key in the same AU as my Tsukkiyama demon story. Because it worked.

 

\---

 

Tobio leaned back against a tree, watching as the chase rituals began to reach their apex among the assembled packs. It had taken hours to reach this point, with fires burning brightly, omegas painted and jeweled for the occasion dancing and stomping their feet in time to drumbeats, worked into a frenzy by the Heat Tea, the moon, and scent of dozens of alphas lurking in the dark, waiting. 

He felt the effects of the tea, boiling in his blood, heightening his senses, the first familiar rippling waves of discomfort in his belly, but he didn’t feel the excitement or anticipation of the others. He barely felt like he was there at all, buried deep in his own thoughts.

The Chase was an all day thing, starting early in the morning with the leader of the hosting pack, Kuroo and the Cats this year, declaring that all the omegas would be rounded up and taken to the center of the village to prepare while the alphas were run out for the time being, not to return until they had something to offer for the celebrations. 

The Cats lived in a valley, with lush forests on all sides and a long river cutting through it. The alphas went up to the rocky peaks and grassy plains above to hunt or gather and any who didn’t return by sundown were considered unworthy of the chase, no matter what they may have achieved prior. 

The omegas spent the day making themselves presentable in a way that represented their packs, planning their route for the run and, in some cases, making preparations in the woods in the form of traps and hideaways. Tobio intended to just take things as they came, and trust instinct; planning was risky, especially when it all hinged on unpredictable alphas following certain paths or actions. 

Not that he truly expected anyone to be after him. Certainly not from his original clan, it had been years since he’d been turned out (People still whispered about it where they thought he couldn’t hear, wondering what was so terrible about him that a pack would exile an omega.) but he could still feel the anger in their gazes whenever the Crows and the Castle clans crossed paths. None of the available Crows would be after him. Tsukishima was chasing Yamaguchi, making their mating official now that Yamaguchi was fully turned, and Hinata, Tobio assumed, had his eye on Yachi.

No one from any of the other clans was a likely candidate.

So he’d sat and waited, watching as alphas began to trickle in with their kills and gifts for their intended omegas, watching as fires were stoked and food readied, and wondered why he had been made to make the trip at all. He said as much, not for the first time, when Ennoshita hauled him back into the Omega House to draw and fill in wings on his back and arms in black, thread beads and feathers into his hair, close bangles and chains around his wrists and ankles, fit rings and studs into his ears, and slid his family and clan rings down onto his tail, but the older omega had just ruffled his hair and sent him back outside so he could attend to a queasy looking Yamaguchi. 

Yamaguchi wasn’t a born demon but, rather, had been turned by Tsukishima (who had been turned by Daichi) and had been acting twitchy (more twitchy than usual) since he’d found out about the Chase. Humans didn’t do that sort of thing, they just courted and married without any fighting or physical displays of fitness. They didn’t even have to build a den before announcing their intentions! 

Tobio didn’t understand how that sort of thing worked; how could an omega determine an alpha’s fitness if he never displayed it? How could an omega tell the alpha was serious and willing to do whatever it took if they didn’t have a home ready and didn’t have to push themselves to their limits? What did ‘courtship’ prove if anyone could do it and succeed?  What was the point if an omega couldn’t be content that they’d made their intended work for them, put their very best out there, give blood, sweat, and perhaps tears in the pursuit of them. 

When that happened both the alpha and the omega won, and winning was the goal, wasn’t it?

Humans were strange creatures, even turned ones. 

Especially turned ones like Hinata. Tobio had already known the other was strange: a human beta who’d turned  _ alpha _ fire demon, and a strong one at that. Most humans died when fed demon blood, and then spent years adjusting, but Hinata had taken it to it like he’d been born one of them and had been alpha all his life. He tried so hard, too hard, and took everything to heart, always said exactly what he meant, never backed down, trusted with alarming ease and...he was infuriating. 

Tobio wanted to take his stupid bright colored head between his hands and pop it like a berry half the time. (Daichi was very firm about him never doing that and that, actually, the whole impulse was creepy so he wasn’t to ever repeat it to anyone else either.) And the other half of the time (when that stupid smile was aimed at him and his stomach and heart decided to stage a riot inside of him) Tobio didn’t know how to feel, aside from consistent low levels of irritation. 

Constant. Hinata was-

Someone was watching him. He felt it, a near physical weight on the back of his neck, making the hair on the back of his neck stand up.

He looked up from his unseeing inspection of his hands, nails painted dark and fingers covered in the delicate runes, done in orange, telling his name and various achievements. His eyes found Hinata almost immediately, drawn to him like a moth to flame, in spite of the fact all the alphas were away from the fire, huddled together on the edge of the tree line. Maybe it was just the way his hair stood out. 

Maybe not. 

Either way he was there, standing between Tsukishima and Aone, standing out where he should have been dwarfed, staring at Tobio with dark, intent eyes. 

Tobio huffed and turned away, scowling all the harder when Yamaguchi and Yachi’s quiet laughter reached his ears. 

Hinata was a pain in the ass. 

_ “Kageyama!” Hinata shouted damn near into his ear before flopping down next to him beside on of the bonfire. He was holding a round wooden box, covered by a vented lid and leaking steam. “Here!”  _

_ The box, warm on the sides and bottom, was thrust into his hands. Tobio blinked down at it then at the alpha only to find Hinata watching him, fire wreathed eyes intense and body practically vibrating with excitement. Not wanting a literal explosion to take place he opened the box, confusion only growing at the sight of three perfectly shaped buns laying on wooden slats, above what looked like a small glass bowl of boiling water.  _

_ “Meat buns! I made them for you. I caught the rabbit myself and made the dough and, well Daichi and Asahi helped a little but-”  _

_ “What?” ‘is going on’, is what he wanted to say but the words stuck in his throat. But Hinata understood him, because he always did, and flashed him a fanged grin.  _

_ “I’m going to chase you tonight! This is my offering and uh...declaration of intent. Is that right? I think that’s right. And, oh, I have this too-” A box emerged from somewhere, small enough to fit in Hinata’s palm, dark red-tinted wood with a flame carved into the lid. “I-” _

_ “Hinata!” Daichi barked from the otherside of the fire. Hinata yelped then sputtered, arms flapping.  _

_ “Right! Sorry, it’s for after! Nevermind!”   _

_ Tobio looked at the small box. A claiming present? Hinata had one ready already? Most alphas made them after the fact, just in case they failed to catch their intended and- wait. _

_ “What!?”  _

_ Someone laughed; Tobio whipped his head around, glaring, but found the rest of their clan suspiciously focused on their own food and discussions. Further away, around the other fires, he could see some of the other clans trying to look and overhear discreetly. All except the Castle pack members in attendance, who were watching openly, expressions ranging from disbelief to amusement on their faces. Tobio looked away, face burning.  _

_ He didn’t even want to know what they were thinking. Him, who everyone had thought would take over for Oikawa one day, being chased by a former human. It was...it didn’t happen. Turned demons always kept to themselves; before joining the crows Tobio hadn’t even known any purebreed clans took on turned demons as equals. If Hinata actually understood anything about how demons worked he wouldn’t be- _

_ No. No he’d still be doing it. He wouldn’t care at all. Hinata never cared about what other people did or thought, beyond proving them wrong.  _

_ Tobio swallowed, pushed aside everything else because if Hinata could so could he and because the Crows were his people now so that was what mattered, and met Hinata’s eyes. “You think you can catch me?”  _

_ He nodded, once, firm and completely confident. “I know I can and I’m going to. Kageyama- Tobio.” Tobio’s eyebrows jumped up. “I’m going to chase you and claim you. You’re going to be mine by the time the sun comes up.”  _

_ Arrogant. Overly confident. Bold, considering Tobio was stronger, faster, knew the woods better (This was Hinata’s third time in Cat territory but Tobio had been here many times before.) would have his senses enhanced by Heat. He even had better night vision, by virtue of being a Shade and growing up in the mountain caverns that made up the Castle dens. There was nothing about this in Hinata’s favor.  _

_ Except for the sneaky omega part of Tobio’s brain, that seemed to thrive on Hinata’s presence, that uncoiled, stretched lazily, and purred in pleasure.  _

_ That was going to be a problem.  _

_ He frowned then, lifting his chin to look down at the alpha, picked up one of the buns and took a bite. (and sighed mentally because damn it, it was fantastic. Hinata couldn’t even make tea without almost lighting his den on fire, how had he managed this?) There wasn’t any other option; to refuse Hinata was to back down from a challenge and was on par with admitting he thought Hinata would be able to catch him, and Tobio would sooner return to his old clan than do that.  _

_ And if the stupid omega part of his brain shivered and licked it’s chops at the thought of a good chase from a worthy alpha at last, well, no one needed to know that part.  _

_ There was nothing else to say so the alpha returned to his spot next to Tsukishima, but his glowed like dying embers, orange and red creeping into the brown, the rest of the meal.  _

_ Not that Tobio was looking.  _

Kuroo whistled and, all at once, all the noise stopped. The Cat leader held up a hand, gesturing to the moon. It was full and bright and, Tobio realized with a start, at its highest point. No one moved or made a sound; the whole world was holding its breath in giddy anticipation. 

There was a howl from where the alphas were gathered. Tobio’s heart skipped a beat then began to pound hard against his ribcage. His mouth was dry, tongue heavy, and the knot of tension that had settled into his stomach tightened along with every muscle in his body. 

Tobio pushed away from the tree and, just as other omegas turned and darted for the trees on the far side of the village, ran as hard as he could.

He wasn’t sure if he wanted to be caught or not yet, but he knew he wasn't going to make it easy. If Hinata wanted him he was going to have give the Chase everything he had. 

**Author's Note:**

> Next Chapter: Tobio forgot one important factor, the only factor, in Hinata's favor. Hinata was a freak of nature. He never got tired, he never stopped, and the harder something was the more he rose to the occasion. The Chase is not as one-sided as one might have thought.


End file.
